From the March 1955 issue of Mystic #36 (the very last precode issue from this series before they added the hideous comic code stamp of approval *gag!) And leave it to Jay Scott Pike to illustrate one of the most gorgeous bad girls of them all... she actually kind of reminds me of a Silver Age era Buscema gal! Anyway, be careful what you wish for, already!!
I'm not sure what planet the creators of this story are from, but here on Earth worms don't look like a blobby grey melted bag of trash. Even the creature itself is all "wtf!" about it too. Ahhh well, putting that completely deranged detail aside, this story is still a wonderfully weird, formless mass of anxiety and color. It's the kind of thing that made early days stories from Master Comics so bizzare and surreal... and they definitely don't come much more bizarre than this one! From the October - November 1951 issue of Dark Mysteries #3.
The big 13th post, THOIA finale of 2024 is a deliriously gory decapitation nightmare presentation from the December 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #9! And what a way to end out the fear, err, year-- and hello, this entire issue is now finally archived here btw, just check the two previous posts, as well as "Hair Yee-Eeee" originally posted way back in April 2012! Hope everyone enjoyed the last 12 months of curated horror comic fun-- and my plan for 2025 is to take a few new twists 'n turns to really spice things up! So as usual (or unusual!) --stay tombed for tons more-- and HAPPY NEW YEAR, 'natch!
Time for a Double Dip of Dick-- Ayers that is, --by anonymous request! What's up with all of you anonymous people lately?! Oh, and since Brian Barnacles snarkily screamed at me for "more Atlas!", it's now time to kill two kooky bird brains with one post! First up, from the June 1952 issue of Astonishing #14, it's a weird and (shhhh! mostly) wordless tale of terror, followed by a ghastly graveyard ghoul-o-rama from the August 1952 issue of Astonishing #16. I've even rounded it all out with an excellently eerie cover by legendary Bill Everett! We're sort of spiraling out of control here at THOIA, so stay tombed for more as 2023 slowly winds down... down... dowwwwwn...
We ended last month with a Tale of Terror, so lets keep it rollin' into December with a deadly double feature from the Golden Age of Charlton comics! And like our last entry, both of these are also illustrated by the wonderfully low-fi hand of Alan Mandel (god, even his signature feels childish, haha...) and we get yet another weirdly wishful variation of the 'ol tragic Monkey's Paw tale, from the February 1946 issue of Yellowjacket Comics #8. And after that, it's time to endure the selfish shenanigans of a thievin' group of brutal bastards, via the April 1946 issue of Yellowjacket Comics #9. Yes, my fellow fiends, --"The Old Witch" strikes again!
